Despite having part of his penis removed due to his battle with cancer, Dale Clarke still plans to marry his fiance. (Caters News)
A young dad fears he will lose his entire penis as cancer "eats away" at his manhood, forcing doctors to remove part of it already.
Dale Clarke no longer has any sensation and his sex life is ruined after he discovered a lump down there was terminal cancer.
The lump was initially the size of a grain of rice, but within three weeks it grew to the size of a grape.
In seven months the 25-year-old has already had five operations, nine rounds of radiotherapy and two rounds of chemo - but the tumours keep coming back.
He's been left with a gaping wound at the top of his groin, while skin taken from his thigh has been grafted on to his penis.
Bravely speaking out about his ordeal, Dale said he can no longer feel any part of his penis, and that his sex life with fiancée Paige King, 24, is ruined as a result.
But, the dad to 6-year-old Cole and a baby on the way, said he's determined to stay positive, make memories and marry Paige in Las Vegas.
He warned other blokes never to ignore the symptoms, and to see a doctor straight away if they fear something could be wrong.
Dale from Newcastle said: “It’s absolutely destroyed me as a person.
"I struggle to walk to the toilet and my penis has no use other than to try and urinate from it.
“It has no feeling. The cancer is busy eating away around it so I will probably lose it altogether soon.
“But I’m a soldier. I’ve got my kids to think about and I can’t be selfish and give up."
Doctors told the 25-year-old he was one of the youngest people they had treated for penis cancer, adding he has one of the most aggressive forms of the disease they'd seen.
Though it's arguably every man's worst nightmare, Dale said he's accepted his sex life has been ruined.
"That part of my life is gone now," he said.
"They could cut it off and it wouldn't bother me, that's how far past it I am.
"I know it's terminal, but I'm not planning to go anywhere for a few years."
He said the thought of the leaving his kids, is the most painful part of his ordeal.
While chemo was "hell", he said he would put himself through it again if doctors think it will give him more time with his son Cole and the couple's unborn baby girl.
The first signs something was wrong came when Dale struggled to pee properly.
He suspected an infection but then found a lump on the tip of his penis in June last year.
Doctors first suspected the lump had been caused by his foreskin being too tight, and circumcised Dale.
But after he was referred to a specialist, tests revealed the devastating diagnosis.
I'd researched it and was convinced it was cancer," he admitted.
"The pain was unbelievable. It was that bad I would try not to go to the toilet.
"I was going about once a day and was crying in pain, it was the worst kind of burning."
Despite his fears, when doctors confirmed he had cancer, Dale said he was left speechless.
He hung up the phone and broke down.
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